Nabatame Haru, Seibu Rio and Tamaki Kyouka form an idol unit called TINGS. Unfortunately, despite almost a year of activity, they are unable to gather crowds. The director of the agency they belong to, Hinase Yuuki, gives them an ultimatum – if they can’t fill Nakano Sun Plaza in its entirety, their unit will be disbanded. However, in order not to put the girls in a hopeless situation, he decides to hire the best manager he knows, called Hinaki Naose. He has the ability to tell if a person is telling the truth and is sincere in his intentions. Unfortunately, Naose has decided that because of previous events in his life, he will never lead any idol unit again. The TINGS girls, however, do not give up and decide to do anything just to convince him to take up the challenge.
Shine Post – Audiovisual design
Studio Kai is responsible for the animation, but it is worth noting the main producer. I mean Konami, which is a legend in the game industry. Shine Post itself in anime form is part of a larger multimedia project. It also includes a light novel, a manga and a game. Concerts are also planned for the future. Why am I mentioning this? The answer is simple. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a polished idol series in every respect. The animation is simply phenomenal.
Not only the frame rate, but also maintaining the level of detail in any situation and great use of shadows. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about static scenes or dynamic ones. The character designs are lovely. Also noteworthy is the fact that the developers did everything not to make excessive use of 3D graphics. As for the characters – they are basically limited to only supporting characters on the shows. Possibly scenes in which female characters are shown at performances from the audience’s view. I really can’t complain about it burning my eyes out. That would be simply an over-nitpicking.
The cast of main female characters are rather little-known seiyuu. This includes one debut – Kanisawa Moeko as Tamaki Kyouka. I, on the other hand, most enjoyed Natsuyoshi Yuuko’s voice as Seibu Rio. I have a weakness for this type of character, and in this case the role was played simply exemplary. Musically, it is also good. The soundtrack will definitely end up on my playlists. It’s just a shame that the release is not scheduled until March next year. Nishiki Yasunori was also responsible for the soundtracks of various games (including some of the tracks in OCTOPATH TRAVELER and Final Fantasy VII Remake). The tracks of TINGS and other groups shown in the series are no different (well, except maybe HY:RAIN). I also liked all the songs used in the opening credits and closing credits.
Shine Post – Plot and Characters
Introduction
My defining marker when it comes to series about idols is, without question, The Idolm@ster. Both in terms of the music and how the characterization was carried out, the plot, or the very presentation of the problems and ways of dealing with it of the individual female characters, and even in terms of the visuals. If I compare any other series of this type to Idolm@ster, it is in itself my expression of respect for the creators of that series. In this case, the comparisons will be many.
Direction Style
The first similarity I noticed was the almost identical way of showing the problems faced by each girl. Idolm@ster used situations from the main plot thread to show the weaknesses of the heroines and how they dealt with them. Which, by the way, worked out phenomenally. As a result, none of the characters presented gave the impression that everything revolved around them. Simply put – each character was equally important to the entire group. Therefore, the flow of the series was not disrupted, as the whole interlocked perfectly. Oikawa Kei decided to use the same style. The first episodes showed TINGS as a whole group, while subsequent episodes already gave main attention to each successive character. The episodes often intertwined events from the past with the present to better show what their problems were that prevented them from showing their full potential.
Another similarity is something obvious – Shine Post shows the world of professional idols. I noticed some time ago that I much prefer such a setting to stories about school idols. That’s why I’ve never been a fan of Love Live! and the directorial style of this title itself. Especially any sequel after the original one (that is, the one about µ’s).
In Shine Post, we also have a similar role of the Producer, who is a kind of genius and takes proper care that each of his charges is able to show their strongest points (often deliberately pushing them into situations that are difficult for them) creating one whole, unique unit that will steal the hearts of thousands of fans.
A quick look at the plot
Haru, Rio, Kyouka, Momiji and Yukine are heroines with completely different characters. They are united by a common passion and the fact that they were (often by accident) at the same concert of the outstanding idol Hotaru. It was she who showed them that it is possible to move the hearts of hundreds of people at concerts through her personality and hard work in pursuit of her passion. The main plot, on the other hand, is fairly standard. Gather X number of people before X event.
I, however, pay attention to the whole, not just one aspect. I don’t like to tiptoe around minor details or the fact that something has already been shown somewhere before. It doesn’t really matter. Often (or rather, in most cases) using proven themes is a much better choice than coming up with something unique by force. What matters is the final result and how the different elements are put together. Shine Post undoubtedly implements and reinterprets ideas that already exist, but it does so in a phenomenal way, and you can see that a lot of heart and passion went into creating this project.
Evaluation and summary
As I mentioned at the very beginning – if I compare any other series of this type to Idolm@ster, it is in itself my expression of respect to the creators of that title. It’s not hard to guess that I enjoyed Shine Post very much. Really, not many series are able to at least come close to Idolm@ster. In this case I can say without much hesitation that this is a series that I could recommend with a clear conscience on the list to watch alongside the original Idolm@ster series. Maybe not in terms of the music itself, since Idolm@ster in this regard is a veritable mine of brilliant musical productions, but all the rest – by all means.
Finalny werdykt
Final evaluation
Which translation do I recommend to watch Shine Post
- Nyanpasu – quite significantly improved official translation both technically (timing, typesetting) and in terms of the translation itself. On top of that, the video quality is far better than the officially available version on Hidive.
Screenshots
